The Philosopher: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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When Donna first sees this picture, she wonders if this is how her brother, Vincent, envisioned his future self as an old philosopher-type or if it was the old philosopher who always lived inside of him, always trying to figure out “what

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The Harpist: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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In the fourth chapter of The Bird that Sang in Color, Vincent tells Donna and Frank that the harp is the only instrument he still needs to learn. He reiterates this aspiration again in Chapter Eight. By Chapter Nine, he’s learned this

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The Story of War: a poem about peace

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I was inspired to write Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees in large part because of my life-long passion for peace. In the following scene from this literary fiction novel, Silvia, the protagonist likens the war in Afghanistan, which is

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The Security Guard: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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The picture above comes from the actual sketchbook that inspired me to write my novel, The Bird That Sang in Color. In fact, all of the drawings I’ve been featuring in this latest blog series come from this same sketchbook. This drawing

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The Guitar Player: artwork that inspired the family saga, “The Bird that Sang in Color”

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Although Vincent played a variety of instruments, his favorite was the guitar. When Donna sees this picture, she thinks of all the times he played the guitar for her and remembers him saying his favorite phrase, “I’ve been

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